Question? What do ginger, jam, vinegar, nutmeg, chocolate,
preserves, seeds, nuts, biscuits and sweets, potato chips, gas for soft drinks, dried meat, plaster,
wood, cement, salt, plastic, glass/metal containers, margarine, tarpaulin
sheets, fabric, fishing rods, nets, buoys, rope, nylon nets, tractor parts,
heaters, musical instruments, paper,
pens and pencils, note books, newspapers, toys, sewing machines, heaters, horses,
donkeys, goats, cattle and chicks have
in common?
Answer: These are just some of the items listed as a threat
to Israel and banned “for security reasons” from entrance into Gaza. The fact
that these kind of things are necessary for any meaningful life is simply
considered by Israel as a bonus.
When I shared this list with a friend, he said, “You can’t
be serious.” Whether I am serious or not
is of little consequence, but believe it, Israel is serious.
When concerned people of conscience tried to bring such
items as these into Gaza by boat, the flagship of the flotilla, the Mavi Marmara, was boarded by Israeli
commandos in international waters who stormed the ship firing live ammunition, killing
nine unarmed peace activist. Netanyahu explained, “Our soldiers had to defend
themselves.”
Jeremy Hammond quotes Sargent S., who shot six of the nine, “They
were without doubt terrorists. I could see the murderous rage in their eyes.”
When asked why the Obama administration hadn’t condemned Israel
for killing nine peace activist, including an American citizen, White House
spokesman Robert Gibbs replied, “Nothing can bring them back now.” Eric Cantor,
a leading Republican in the House of
Representatives:
Called on the Obama administration
“to veto any biased UN resolutions reining in Israel’s right to defend itself.”
He didn’t bother to explain how an attack on an unarmed ship on a humanitarian
mission in international waters that resulted in the killing of nine civilians
could possibly constitute an act of self-defense.”[1]
Thomas Friedman summed it up by explaining that the victims
wanted to die and had practically begged the commandos to execute them as part
of a plot to make Israel “look bad.”[2] No one bothered to ask him
for the source of his information.
Besides that, who could blame Israel? Those terrorists were
armed with coloring books and crayons.
Thomas Are
December 17, 2016